After lurking all over the BMW community - I finally was able to realize a dream and pick up my first BMW!

It's a E46, Auto - owned by a friend of my Dad's who moved out to BC and sold me the car for pretty cheap!

The body is in great shape with no rust and the car has brand new tyres installed but its got a little high kms.

It sits at 302k at the moment, it drives nice and everything works including all the clusters, heater, ac etc. Shifting is fine and it still packs a lot of power.

I want to try and get at least another 100-150k out of the car before I look for another set of wheels but I'm wondering whether it makes sense to do some maintainence now or sort of do the minimum and get the car on the road, and repair it as we go?

One of the things I think I should do is change things like control arm bushings, waterpump, thermostat, belts and pulleys as the last owner told me had not changed any of them since 2008.

How much would that run me roughly and what else do you guys think I should do to the car ?

I'm going to be working all summer so hope to make decent enough cash to fix her up real nice and try and make it to my first max cruise!

SiR

04-09-2012, 11:13 AM

if you want that kind of mileage out of it better to replace certain things now before they break and cause bigger issues.

bushings/cooling system are good places to start. If you do the work yourself... 1k-2k worth of parts and it would be in great running order.

Levi80

04-09-2012, 12:03 PM

Not very good with tools unfortunately:(

Would rather take it a good shop with decent labor charges - can order the parts online though!

Have a buddy who commutes across the border and brings lots of parts for his e36 from new york!

damameke

04-09-2012, 04:20 PM

Grimsby - in Hamilton ?

You are asking the right questions and if there is no service records and according to previous owner you are still riding on original parts, I would get the car to any of the shops that advertised here, - get the car thoroughly inspected - money well spent and you will have a bench mark to go on and you can plan your work order.

At 302KM and without knowing the service records, thats the route I would take, if fluid has not been changed, thats what I would do and then plan the rest(easy on the pocket in this manner).. maintenance is key to get another 100 to 150 k...

Congrats...on your purchase

Levi80

04-10-2012, 10:39 AM

Well, we like to think we have nothing to do with Hamilton, but yes we're near Hamilton :D

Yeah I plan to take it to a shop soon - just trying to figure out a place that can get me a solid free estimate then I can plan my budget and get the ball rolling.

I think I can easily get another 100-150k from the car if I fix the main things and I dont plan on doing any stupid driving with it...just cruising:)

damameke

04-10-2012, 11:13 AM

In order for a shop to give you a written detail/comprehensive inspection, prepare to pay,I cant expect a shop who will spend at least an hour inspecting my car for free..

Also you need to know what are the main things to fix or is it necessay to fix - shop inspection is where you should start ...so you have a maintenance roadmap to follow..